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Imperial Civil War (Lippstadt Victory)
The Imperial Civil War, also known as the Lippstadt War, was an internal conflict that occurred within the Galactic Empire in 797 UC, between the forces loyal to the high nobles and those that supported Reinhard von Lohengramm. Background In 796 UC, shortly after the rout of the FPA Star Fleet at the Battle of Amlitzer, Kaiser Friedrich IV suffered a heart attack and died, having failed to assign a successor to his throne. The question of which of his three young grandchildren would ascend to the position led to a struggle amongst various parties who sought power within the Empire: *Count Reinhard von Lohengramm, who initially had sought to overthrow Friedrich purely as a matter of justice or revenge (Friedrich had taken Reinhard's sister Annerose as a consort several years prior). His vision seemed later to have expanded, however, to include control over the entire Empire, and possibly all of Terran-controlled space. Lohengramm supported Erwin Josef II, the 5-year-old son of Princess Christine and the late Prince Ludwig. *Marquis Klaus von Lichtenlade, who had served under Friedrich as his prime minister and secretary of state. He too supported Erwin Josef, because the latter's lack of a strong parental influence would make the child easy to control. *Duke Otto von Braunschweig, a high noble who had married the Kaiser's daughter Amarie. He supported his own child, 18-year-old Elisabeth, for obvious reasons. *Marquis Wilhelm von Littenheim, another noble, who had married the Kaiser's other daughter Christine. He too supported his own daughter, 16-year-old Sabine. After consulting with his advisers, Lohengramm chose to ally with Lichtenlade, as the Imperial premier lacked any military forces of his own, and together they were able to effect the ascension of Erwin Josef to the throne that same year. Coinciding with this event, the then-Count Lohengramm was given the title of Marquis. Braunschweig, Littenheim, and other high nobles—outraged by Lohengramm's increased stature within the Empire, as well as their own reduction in power—forged an alliance of their own to fight the 'Lichtenlade-Lohengramm Axis'. The Lippstadt Alliance was formally created at a gathering of nobles in the Lippstadt Forest on Duke Braunschweig's estates. Duke Braunschweig was the leader of the Lippstadt League with Marquis Littenheim as the 2nd in command. Most of the high nobility sided with the Lippstadt Alliance, either through pressure from family ties, feudal obligations, or simple inertia and desire to maintain the old status quo. One notable exception was the Mariendorf family which sided with Reinhard. The war Prince Braunschweig initially wanted to station troops at 9 different bases that were located along the way from Odin to Geiersburg Fortress. However, High Admiral Wilibald Joachim von Merkatz, the Lippstadt Allied Forces supreme commander, vetoed this idea, as he did not want to divide their fleet. He instead wanted to force Lohengramm into a decisive battle near Geiersburg, believing that the death of the Marquis would cause his forces to splinter. The Prince agreed, but Admiral Staaden proposed that they send a task force to Odin while it was weakly defended and seize it. However, Merkatz cautioned against the idea, saying that it was probably a trap and that they needed all of their forces for the decisive battle. Braunschweig was persuaded by the high admiral and Vice Admiral Adalbert von Fahrenheit to not divide their fleet. Around that time, the Reuenthal and Mittemeyer Fleets besieged Rentenberg Fortress. It was defended by High Admiral Ovlessor, the commander of the Empire's ground forces. The troops under Oskar von Reuenthal and Wolfgang Mittermeyer attempted to seize the fortress, but were repulsed by the defenders, led by Ovlessor. A call for reinforcements was made, and Braunschweig decided to disptach a fleet of 35,000 ships to reinforce the base. Commanded by Admiral Staaden and Vice Admiral Fahrenheit, the Staaden Fleet engaged the Lohengramm supporters with a ferocity that surprised Mittermeyer and Reuenthal. Fahrenheit was a skilled offensive commander, and, taking the enemy by surprise, destroyed much of their forces. Mittermeyer and Reuenthal were both killed. Meanwhile, High Admiral Siegfried Kircheis was dispatched to pacify the frontier territories loyal to the aristocratic forces. His combined Kircheis Fleet numbered around 40,000 ships. Upon hearing of the news, Staaden's group was ordered to withdraw from Rentenburg, evacuating Ovlessor and his men, and instead attack Kircheis. An additional force of 15,000 ships, led by Marquis Littenheim, was deployed to aide them. This new combined force of 50,000 vessels was designated as the Littenheim Fleet. They engaged each other at Garmisch Fortress, where, following Fahrenheit's and Staaden's military advise, Littenheim was able to defeat the red-headed admiral. Kircheis put his fleet in a diamond formation and charged, so Littenheim ordered the center to retreat while the left and right wings remained in place. They were able to envelop Kircheis, giving him heavy losses. The Kircheis Fleet was able to break out of the encirclement, but lost 18,000 ships in the process. The remaining 22,000 vessels retreated to meet up with the main Lohengramm Fleet, giving up the frontier campaign. The Littenheim Fleet returned to Geiersburg Fortress victorious, having taken minimal losses (losing about 6,000 ships). Lohengramm, meanwhile, decided to strike at Geiersburg itself. Final battle Aftermath Category:Wars